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Ep 61 Ch 18 "The Beginning" Part 2 May 03, 2021

Show notes

In this second part I spend a large portion of our time comparing author John Horgan's work "The End of Science" to David Deutsch's "The Beginning of Infinity". What errors does Horgan make on the way to reaching the conclusion that science is coming to an end? I also summarise cases where critics of Popper seem to turn to character assassination rather than being focussed on his ideas. We end by considering reasons why - particularly in fundamental physics - science is not at an end given open questions especially in cosmology.

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Ep 60: The Nexus (No music version). Apr 23, 2021

Show notes

This episode is identical to episode 59 - only it contains no music. I don't think this is as good :)

My preferred way to experience this is the video version version which is here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zpTxBkmr4LE . of this video (there is another published alongside this without any music -again, I don't think it is as good, but if you prefer "no music" - there is a video version without that also here: https://youtu.be/Ky4vMllidvM In either case this episode seeks to answer the question "What is a person?" in the context of our best scientific and philosophical understanding of evolution by natural selection, the theory of computation (including quantum computation), the theory of epistemology - how knowledge is created - and finally quantum theory - in particular the Everettian multiverse understanding of it in its most modern incarnation, as explained primarily by David Deutsch in "The Beginning of Infinity" and invoking the concept of fungibility. The concept of "personhood" has been historically a very tricky idea; either mired in the murky waters of mysticism, or reduced by the near vacuousness of physicalism. This document attempts to provide a video essay on the topic given our most up to date notions of what is true in philosophy, mathematics, morality, epistemology and physics. Time stamps will be available soon. Credit for the music goes to “Ketsa” - https://ketsa.uk/ where their music can be downloaded for free on a Creative Commons License here: https://freemusicarchive.org/music/Ketsa and my own track breakdown is as follows: Track List and Times Save Ourselves (00:05) Deliverance (03:02) Astral Travel (06:22) Blazing Stars (09:42) Blessed Time (12:54) Dancing by Twilight (38:30) Wild Rivers (41:46) Hear me out (44:42) Gilded Moon (48:27) Deep Math (53:58) Built from Nothing (57:11) Details for the creative commons license can be found at https://freemusicarchive.org/music/Ketsa and at the end of the video.

Ep 59: The Nexus Apr 23, 2021

Show notes

My preferred way to experience this is the video version version which is here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zpTxBkmr4LE . There is another version also published alongside this without any music - I don't think it is as good, but if you prefer "no music" - there is a version without that here: https://youtu.be/Ky4vMllidvM Note that episode 60 of the podcast is just "Episode 59 without the music" as well. In either case this episode seeks to answer the question "What is a person?" in the context of our best scientific and philosophical understanding of evolution by natural selection, the theory of computation (including quantum computation), the theory of epistemology - how knowledge is created - and finally quantum theory - in particular the Everettian multiverse understanding of it in its most modern incarnation, as explained primarily by David Deutsch in "The Beginning of Infinity" and invoking the concept of fungibility. The concept of "personhood" has been historically a very tricky idea; either mired in the murky waters of mysticism, or reduced by the near vacuousness of physicalism. This document attempts to provide a video essay on the topic given our most up to date notions of what is true in philosophy, mathematics, morality, epistemology and physics. Time stamps will be available soon. Credit for the music goes to “Ketsa” - https://ketsa.uk/ where their music can be downloaded for free on a Creative Commons License here: https://freemusicarchive.org/music/Ketsa and my own track breakdown is as follows: Track List and Times Save Ourselves (00:05) Deliverance (03:02) Astral Travel (06:22) Blazing Stars (09:42) Blessed Time (12:54) Dancing by Twilight (38:30) Wild Rivers (41:46) Hear me out (44:42) Gilded Moon (48:27) Deep Math (53:58) Built from Nothing (57:11) Details for the creative commons license can be found at https://freemusicarchive.org/music/Ketsa and at the end of the video.

Ep 58 Ch 18 "The Beginning" Part 1 Apr 17, 2021

Show notes

The beginning of "The Beginning" which is the chapter at the very end of "The Beginning of Infinity". :) Ignore what I say early on in this episode: this is episode 58, not 57. In this episode we revisit the idea that science, or knowledge broadly is coming to an "end". Even Feynman could become uncharacteristically pessimistic in this regard. Every new discovery reveals that there is more to know. Popper himself thought that as we increased our knowledge we would learn how much more ignorant we were - but that this has deep consequences for relating to each other. This is not the beginning of the end, but it may be the end of the beginning of The Beginning of Infinity. Support me monthly here: https://www.patreon.com/BrettRHall or per episode here: https://www.patreon.com/tokcast or even a one off donation by clicking on the "Donate" button found here: http://www.bretthall.org/

Ep 57 "Existential Risk". Apr 04, 2021

Show notes

This is a podcast all about "Existential Risk". Made at the request of a Patreon, I cover the usual spectrum of ways in which people guess civilisation might end, discuss how to think about this from a rational - but critical - perspective and how to remain optimistic in the face of public intellectuals bombarding us with these claims about the coming end-times. If you would like to get early access to podcasts like this, consider becoming a Patreon either at https://www.patreon.com/tokcast (for per-episode support) or https://www.patreon.com/BrettRHall (for per-month support).

Ep 56: Ch 17 "Unsustainable" Part 4 Apr 04, 2021

Show notes

The final part of the penultimate chapter. Here we cover "The parable of Europium" and other memorable pessimists from David's formative years. Some analysis of the present concerns about climate change and the rational problem solving - and optimistic approach as contrasted to the standard pessimistic lines.

Ep 55:Existence Mar 27, 2021

Show notes

What does it mean for something to exist?

Ep 54 Ch 17 "Unsustainable" Part 3 Mar 26, 2021

Show notes

Marx, Engels and Diamond present to us a vision of people as being in some sense impotent in the grand historical scheme - subject merely to natural forces and thus able to be predicted by a kind of natural law. This reductive view of people and their place in history (and the cosmos) leads to terrible historical ideas that bleed into pessimistic political ideologies. The truth instead is not bleak. People - in the form of their creative capacity to explain the world in which they find themselves leads to them being shapers of history. They are agents of change: powerful and good. We are reaching a crescendo of "The Beginning of Infinity".

Ep 53: Understanding Universality Mar 18, 2021

Show notes

This is additional material about Chapter 6 of "The Beginning of Infinity" - but goes into some additional areas. I compare Greek Gods to Blockchain (in a sense). I think "The Jump to Universality" is a particularly poorly understood chapter. I hope this inspires many to go back and re-read that part of the book. Again. And again.

Ep 52 Ch 17 "Unsustainable" Part 2 Mar 08, 2021

Show notes

Easter Island, Incans, Llamas and Australia. Resources and knowledge, creativity and stasis. We begin to bring together the chapters that have come before as we move into the crescendo of "The Beginning of Infinity". Images (on Youtube) all used under a creative commons licence. All music composed by me.

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